Prop and conveyor arrangement for removing loose mineral



R. KERSCHEK Nov 25,1969

PROP AND CONVEYOR ARRANGEMENT FOR REMOVING LOOSE MINERAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 5, 1967 IN VE N TOR W 0 K e m m WM AN Nov. 25, 1969 R. KERS CHEK 3,480,130

PRQP AND CONVEYOR ARRANGEMENT FOR REMOVING LOOSE MINERAL Filed May 3, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RUDI KERSCHEK BY KW United States Patent U.S. Cl. 198126 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Prop and roof supporting arrangement including sideby-side advanceable mine roof prop means extending in longitudinal direction and endless scraper chain conveyor means extending in longitudinal direction along the prop means and having a lower working flight for scraping contact with the mine floor and an upper return flight guidedly positioned along the upper portion of the prop means, with a pusher plate extending in longitudinal direction interposed between the adjacent portions of the prop means and the lower flight and carried by the prop means in sliding contact with the lower flight to confine the rearward limit of the conveyor path and achieve advance of the lower flight during advance of the prop means, whereby when the prop means are advanced the lower working flight will be urged by the plate means into a pile of loose mineral at the mine floor to take up such mineral for conveyance to a point of discharge.

The present invention relates to prop and conveyor arrangements for a mineway, and more particularly to such an arrangement which includes mine roof prop means extendable along a pile of extracted mineral and advanceable towards such pile, pusher plate means carried along the lower portions of the prop means, and endless conveyor means including a lower flight in sliding contact with the plate means and with the mine floor and an upper flight guided along the upper portions of the prop means, so that when the prop means are advanced the working flight will be urged into the pile of mineral to take up such mineral for conveyance to a point of discharge.

It is known to provide conveyor arrangements, such as double chain scraper conveyors, along a mine face, such as in long wall mining operations, to convey mineral being extracted from such mine face away from the site of operations. Such conveyor arrangements may be provided with means for advancing the arrangements in increments toward newly exposed layers of mine face, as for example where a mining machine, for example a coal planer, is conducted back and forth along the mine face and mineral thereby extracted forced onto the conveyor. Such conveyor is usually maintained closely adjacent the mine face to assure that mineral being extracted will be placed thereon as the mining machine travels in the appropriate back and forth path. Conveyor arrangements and drive means and equipment for adjusting the position thereof longitudinally and/or transversely are disclosed in U.S. Patents 2,810,565, 2,965,217, 2,990,168, 3,033,542, 3,072,241, and 3,113,661.

In the same way it is known that roof supporting prop means, which may be self-propelled, can be used in conjunction with long wall mining operations, especially where such prop arrangements are advanced in increments toward the mine face in the same way as the conveyor. Often, the prop means in fact urge the conveyor forward during the advance of the prop means. The prop means thus support the mine roof in the area adjacent 3,480,130 Patented Nov. 25, 1969 the mine face being worked and to give as complete prolonged support as possible, cantilevered roof caps are employed on the prop means so that the forward or front ends thereof extend over the. conveyor and the planer alley between the conveyor and the actual mine face being worked. Constructions of appropriate roof supporting prop means which may be self-propelled, understandably using hydraulic or pneumatic fluid in piston cylinder arrangements to achieve such advance, are disclosed in U.S. Patents 3,169,377, 3,174,289, 3,186,179, 3,192,722, 3,225,547, 3,237,903, and 3,241,323.

However, where it is desired to remove already extracted mineral such as in the form of loose blocks or particles in a pile in the confined area adjacent a mine face, especially where the mineral extraction is not undertaken by mining machines in the usual long wall mining technique, no construction is known which can adequately achieve the removal of mineral from such pile, not only with convenience but also with efficiency considering the confined area in question, the ever present danger of cave-in, and the minimum amount of space which may be allotted to conveying equipment in the area being worked.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above described disadvantages in connection with conveying of loose mineral already extracted and in the form of a pile from the confined area of a mineway in a substantially complete and eflicient manner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a prop and conveyor arrangement for a mineway which includes mine roof prop means extendable along a pile of extracted mineral and advanceable towards such pile, pusher plate means carried along the lower portions of the prop means, and endless conveyor means including a lower flight in sliding contact with the plate means and with the mine floor and an upper flight guided along the upper portions of the prop means, so that when the prop means are advance the working flight will be urged into the pile of mineral to take up such mineral for conveyance to a point of discharge.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of the foregoing type which is inexpensive to construct, simple in operation, and durable in use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of the foregoing type which can utilize to a great extent already existing elements and equipment in a new way to achieve more eflicient and more complete conveying of mineral from a pile in the confined area of a mineway, utilizing not only an endless conveyor but also conventional mine roof prop means which may be slightly modified so as to adapt the same to the combination of the present invention which achieves the advantages herein disclosed.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of the foregoing type which permits the material to be conveyed to be conducted along the mine floor by the conveyor means such that a rearward lateral limit adjacent the prop means is defined by a suitable pusher plate means extending to the mine floor whereby to scrape mineral into the path of the conveyor means during the advance of the prop means and conveyor means toward the pile being worked.

Other and further objects of the present invention will become apparent from a. study of the within specification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of a mining operation in which the prop and conveyor arrangement of the present invention may be used;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the arrangement of FIG. 1 taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1, illustrating the manner by which the conveyor means is mounted on appropriate roller means at one end of the conveyor path and the manner by which the conveyed mineral may be transferred to a separate conveyor for further conveyance in a desired manner.

It has now been found in accordance with the present invention that a prop and conveyor arrangement for a mineway may now be provided which comprises mine roof supporting prop means extending in longitudinal direction for disposition on a mine floor adjacent a pile of extracted mineral and being advanceable toward such pile, pusher plate means extending in said longitudinal direction and carried along the lower portions of said prop means facing such pile, endless scraper chain conveyor means extending in said longitudinal direction along said prop means and including a lower working flight posi-tioned for scraping contact with the mine floor and disposed in sliding contact with said plate means at the lateral side thereof adjacent said plate means as well as an upper return flight guidedly positioned along the upper portions of said prop means, whereby when said prop means are advanced said working flight will be urged by said plate means into such pile at the mine floor to take up extracted mineral therefrom for conveyance along such mine floor away from such pile to the point of discharge.

Advantageously, the plate means is connected to the prop means such that the lower edge of said plate means is in scraping contact with the mine floor and simultaneously defines the rearward lateral confining limit on longitudinal direction of said working flight thereat, the corresponding forward lateral limit of said working flight being unconfined in the longitudinal direction to permit take-up of extracted mineral from such pile. Preferably, the flights include parallel endless lateral chains carrying transverse scraper plates spaced apart in the longitudinal direction.

In this regard, it is also preferred that the lower edge of the plate means extend outwardly in the direction of the pile in the form of a shovel profile with the scraper plates being provided with an adjacent lateral edge conforming to such profile.

The return flight is guidedly carried along the upper portions of the prop means by roller means disposed along the prop means upper portions. In this regard, the prop means may include a plurality of side-by-side upright prop frames, with each frame having floor skid means, roof cap means, and at least two hydraulic extensible and retractable mining props situated on the skid means and carrying the cap means to achieve releasable support of the mine roof, with the roller means being operatively mounted on the underside of at least some of the cap means.

Preferably, the cap means are in the form of cantilevered cap bars or roof bars extending substantially beyond the nearest prop in the direction of advance toward the pile to be worked, such that the roller means are de pended from certain of the cap bars.

Referring to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows the winning or extraction of mineral from an area 1 which is progressing in the transverse direction of arrow 2. Between the area 1 being extracted and the gob 3 therebehind, the long wall working area or cross-cut 4 is disposed. In such area 4 all of the necessary equipment for extracting the mineral from mine face or breast 7 must be accommodated. Transversely extending gangways 5 and 6 are disposed at the longitudinal ends of the cross-cut 4 in the usual manner. The roof supporting prop units 8 are set up in side-by-side relation more or less closely together in front of the breast 7 longitudinally all through the cross-cut 4. The prop units 8 are preferably hydraulic, self-propelled advancing roof supporting prop units, such as those in the form of prop frames or chocks, as noted more fully in some of the aforementioned US. patents.

The scraper chain conveyor 9, i.e., an endless conveyor means, is disposed in cross-cut 4 parallel to the breast 7 and thus in the longitudinal direction of arrangement of the side-by-side prop units 8. The end pulley or rotary drum means 10 and 11 are conveniently disposed at the longitudinal ends of cross-cut 4 in the gangways 6 and 5 respectively. One of the rotary drum means, i.e. means 11, may be provided with appropriate rotary drive means, with the other rotary drum means 10 being an idle guide roller means or a similar means associated with a rotary drive means. Such rotary drive means are well known and may be appreciated from certain of the aforementioned US. patents.

The scraper chain conveyor designated schematically at 9, which may be in the form of a double chain scraper conveyor having a pair of parallel longitudinally extending endless conveyor chains interconnected by transverse scraper bars or plates spaced apart longitudinally therealong, is actually disposed in the interstice or narrow alley between the leading roof props (see FIG. 2) and the breast or mine face 7. The direction in which conveyor 9 operates to convey mineral from cross-cut 4 is indicated by the arrow 12, i.e., the material is conveyed in longitudinal direction whereas the direction of advance of the mining operation, including the advance of prop units 8 and conveyor 9, is in the transverse direction of arrow 2.

In FIG. 1 may also be seen an auxiliary or second endless conveyor 20 mounted for conveying movement in the direction of dump hole 23 by reason of the positioning of auxiliary rotary drum means 29 and 30, rotary drum means 30 being provided with appropriate rotary drive means to operate the auxiliary conveyor 20.

As may be noted from the side view presented in FIG. 2, each prop unit 8 may be in the form of a prop frame containing the flood skid or connector and the roof cap 8d between which are positioned the forward prop 8a and the rear prop 8b, which are extensible hydraulic mining props so as to permit support of the roof and temporary release by retracting such props as when the frame is to be advanced in the direction of arrow 2, i.e., toward the breast 7. The prop frame 8 contains as part of the roof cap a cantilevered roof bar 15 which may extend as far as the breast 7, i.e., to support as far as possible the mine roof near the intersection thereof with the mine face. The forwardmost portion of cantilevered roof bar 15 is shown schematically in FIG. 2, and appropriate extension means may be provided as a part thereof to achieve preliminary support of the roof before the particular prop frame or unit 8 is advanced in the desired direction.

The frame 8 shown in FIG. 2 is preferably utilized in conjunction with a companion frame, and such frames are preferably operatively interconnected for alternate advance in the desired direction by the use of appropriate drive means, such as hydraulic or pneumatic operated piston cylinder means (not shown). As noted above, the construction and design of the basic prop frames or prop units 8 are conventional.

It will be seen from FIG. 2 that the forwardmost prop 8a is provided with a plate 18 connected thereto. Plate 18 may be dimensioned as a knee-high plate to prevent backflow of extracted mineral from pile 19 disposed in cross-cut 4 ahead of the prop and conveyor arrangement and situated against the breast 7. Plate 18 may be provided advantageously with an outwardly extending edge in the form of a shovel profile to insure that as frame or prop unit 8 is advanced, extracted mineral from pile 19 will be scraped forward and maintained within the confines of the conveyor path.

It will be noted that the conveyor includes the lower working flight 16 and the upper return flight 13. Lower flight 16 is maintained in the desired longitudinal position by reason of the plate 18 with which lower flight 16 is kept in sliding contact. The lower edges of the individual scraper plates of flight 16 rest on the mine floor 17 and thus scrape mineral from pile 19 along the floor in the desired direction, yet with the presence of plate 18 preventing backflow of mineral in that direction.

The return flight 13 at the upper portion of the prop frame or unit 8 is suitably guided by rollers 14 which depend from appropriate cantilevered roof bars 15 by the brackets 14a and 1412. It will be appreciated by the artisan that only certain of the cantilevered roof bars 15 of the plurality of prop frames or units 8 need be provided with rollers 14 so as to guide the return flight 13 in the desired manner. On the other hand, the plate 18 is maintained all along the extent of cross-cut 4 to insure that as the prop units 8 are advanced in the direction of arrow 2 (see FIG. 1), the lower flight 16 will be urged forwardly into the pile 19 while the shovel profile 28, here shown in outwardly curved disposition, will prevent loss of mineral by scraping such mineral into the path of the scraper plates of flight 16.

It will be seen that plate 18 may be in the form of a single plate extending along cross-cut 4 or in the form of separate plate sections articulatedly interconnected in endto-end relation, or even disposed in overlapping articulated relation, such as by telescoping or tongue and groove interdisposition. In this manner, it is not necessary for all of the prop frames or units 8 to be advanced simultaneously, but rather slight deviation in the longitudinal disposition may be accommodated due to the articulated or overlapping disposition of the plate sections. Understandably, some articulation may also be provided with respect to the horizontal to permit relative deviation of one such plate section from the next in cases where the mine floor 17 is not particularly even.

In FIG. 3, the mounting of the conveyor means in the gangway 5 on the rotary drum means 11 is shown. It will be seen that the rotary drum means 11 is disposed on the adjacent floor 21 of the gangway and is provided with an appropriate prop 25 and cap 26. In accordance with an optional feature of the present invention, the main endless conveyor means 9 may be used in conjunction with an auxiliary or second conveyor (see FIG. 1), which may be disposed in transverse direction with the lower flight thereof situated in a gutter 22 into which the mineral conveyed by lower flight 16 is dumped, and an upper return flight guidedly carried by rollers 27 appropriately supported above gutter 22. Convenient removable braces 24, or the like, may be used to protect the area at which the rotary drum means 11 and the auxiliary conveyor 20 are situated.

It will be appreciated that a similar arrangement may be provided at the opposite end of conveyor 9 to accommodate the end pulley or rotary drive means 10 in gang- Way 6.

The dump hole 23 (see FIG. 1) may be used to transfer mineral ultimately from pile 19 in cross-cut 4 intermediately conveyed along gutter 22 in gangway 5, to a final point of disposition, such as a coal car which wil transport the mineral to the surface.

It will be seen that as the work progresses, the units 8 will advance toward newly exposed layers of breast or mine face 7 in the mine area 1 being extracted and in turn the plate 18 will force the lower flight 16 into the pile 19 (see FIG. 2). At the same time, the return flight 13 will be carried forward by the cantilevered bars 15. However, the end pulleys or rotary drum means 10 and 11 and the associated rotary drive means therefor must also be advanced in the direction of arrow 2. This may be accomplished by suitable advancing equipment of the type described in certain of the aforementioned U.S. patents. In particular, a prop frame of the above discussed type may be utilized which contains a transverse piston cylinder means interconnecting the two upright props, in the prior art manner, so that one such prop may be advanced with respect to the other and when set, the other such prop carrying the end pulley or rotary drum means and associated drive means may be drawn forward. On the other hand, a simple system of utilizing a pair of alternately advanceable prop frames, similar to those which may be used as prop units 8, can be employed such that the end pulley or rotary drum means and rotary drive means therefor are carried by one such frame whereby to be advanced with such frame, as such frame alternately advances with the companion frame in the direction of arrow 2 in the appropriate gangway 5 or 6. Naturally, by reason of the extent of accommodation in the transverse direction of the auxiliary conveyor 20, such conveyor 20 may remain in its original position while the entirety of the mine area 1 is worked. Thereafter the conveyor 20 may be advanced to a new position in gangway 5 forward of mine area 1 in the direction of arrow 2 so that the extraction of mineral may be repeated in the next areaQHowever, if desired, the conveyor 20 may be provided with similar incremental advancing equipment such as alternately advanceable prop units whereby to maintain the relative disposition of conveyors 9 and 20 shown in FIG. 1.

Any braces 24 which during the mining operation come into the zone of operation of cross-cut 4 may be readily removed and the support replaced as the work progresses by the useof similar prop units 8 or the like, and it will be realized by the artisan that in connection with the arrangement of FIG. 3, the disposition of rotary drum means 11 and its associated rotary drive means, may be maintained separately from the roof cap support means in gangway 5 used for mounting rollers 27 in the transverse direction therealong to accommodate the upper return flight of conveyor 20.

An advantage of the present invention is the fact that by reason of the knee-high plates 18, the lower flight 16 of conveyor means 9 cannot yield rearwardly toward the gob 3, and instead the plate or plates 18 serve to contain the loose material being conveyed as well as to push the lower flight 16 into the pile of mineral during advance of prop units 8. Of course, where the pile 19 of loose mineral is not very large, the disposition of plate or plates 18 Will aid in scraping the loose mineral up to the mine face 7 to a sutficient height that it can be readily taken up and conveyed away by the lower flight 16.

The manner by which the mine face or breast 7 is extracted does not form a part of the present invention nor the manner by which the pile 19 of loose mineral is created. Indeed, drilling and/or blasting techniques may be used to extract the mineral rather than the more conventional long wall mining techniques employing a mining planer. Nevertheless, as an aid in carrying out the extraction of mineral, for example by drilling and/or blasting, the plate or plates 18 may be made of such a height, even extending just below the rollers 14, as to prevent mineral from flying over the top of such plate or plates into the gob 3 when it is blasted from the working face or breast 7.

Therefore the present invention involves a prop and conveyor arrangement suitable to remove loose mineral during long wall mining operations, especially those where the mineral is extracted by drilling and/ or blasting techniques. The endless conveyor is in fact combined with a roof supporting system that can be advanced in the working direction in such a manner that the scraper chain, the working flight of which runs directly on the floor, is guided only on the rear or trailing side, and thus pushes gradually into the pile of loose material by reason of the presence of the backing plate or pusher plate carried at the forward lower portions of the prop units. The material is thus readily scraped by the scraper chain along the mine floor to the point of discharge. The return flight of the scraper chain is automatically advanced with the roof supporting system since it is carried and guided by rollers suspended from the cantilevered roof bars of such roof supporting system, while the lower working flight is advanced by reason of its slidable contact disposition with the pusher plate or plates.

Thus while it has been long known to use a scraper chain to convey mineral along the mine floor with the return flight being disposed above the floor flight, the present invention achieves a more versatile arrangement of elements utilizing the roof supporting system in the long wall mining technique in combination with the conveyor means, especially such a roof supporting system which is self-propelled.

Naturally, where various constructional parts have been defined in terms of means in the instant specification and/ or claims, such means have been illustrated in the accompanying drawing as specific elements, but in accordance with the present invention, such means contemplate any and all elements usable to achieve the combination arrangement of the invention, as the artisan will appreciate, so long as the disposition of the parts in question is maintained, and any and all such constructional elements are contemplated herein just .as if prolix enumeration thereof were set forth in detail herein.

It will be appreciated that the instant specification and drawings are set forth by wayof illustration and not limitation, and that various modifications and changes may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Prop and conveyor arrangement for a mineway, which comprises mine roof supporting prop means extending in longitudinal direction for disposition on a mine floor adjacent a pile of extracted mineral, said prop means including a plurality of side-by-side substantially transversely extending upright prop frames, each such frame having floor skid means, roof cap means, and at least two hydraulic extensible and retractable mining props situated on said skid means and carrying said cap means to achieve releasable support of the mine roof, and said frames being adapted to be advanced in a direction toward such pile by prop advancing means, pusher plate means extending in said longitudinal direction and carried along the lower portions of said prop means facing such pile, endless scraper chain conveyor means extending in said longitudinal direction along said prop means and including a lower working flight positioned for scraping contact with the mine floor and disposed in sliding contact with said plate means at the lateral side thereof adjacent said plate means as well as an upper return flight guidedly carried along the upper portions of said prop means by roller means disposed along said upper portions of said prop means and operatively mounted on the underside of at least some of said cap means, said plate means being connected to said prop means such that the lower edge of said plate means is in scraping contact with the mine floor and simultaneously defines the rearward lateral confining lirnit in longitudinal direction of said Working flight thereat, the corresponding forward lateral limit of said working flight being unconfined in the longitudinal direction to permit take-up of extracted mineral from such pile whereby when said prop means are advanced said working flight will be urged by said plate means into such pile at the mine floor to take up extracted mineral therefrom for conveyance along such mine floor away from such pile to the point of discharge.

i 2. Arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said flights include parallel endless lateral chains carrying transverse scraper plates spaced apart in said longitudinal direction.

3. Arrangement according to claim 2 wherein said lower edge of the plate means extends outwardly in the direction of such pile in the form of a shovel profile and said scraper plates are provided with an adjacent lateral edge conforming to such profile.

4. Arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said cap means are in the form of cantilevered cap bars extending substantially beyond the nearest prop in the direction of advance toward such pile and said roller means depended from certain of said cap bars.

5. Arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the longitudinal ends of said conveyor means are mounted operatively on rotary drum means at least one of which is adapted to be driven by associated rotary drive means, said rotary drive means being adapted to be advanced in a direction toward such pile by conveyor advancing means in conjunction with the advance of said prop means.

I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 751,885 2/1904 Webster 198-174 409,568 8/1889 Dodge l9836 2,859,022 11/1958 Frye 198126 3,357,742 12/1967 Dommann 299-34 RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner Us, c1. X.R. 198-174 

